The Million Dollar Match
by hopefulwriter27
Summary: Jared convinces Jensen to let Patti, the best matchmaker on the west coast, find the loves of their lives. Things don’t quite work out according to plan. Based off the reality show Millionaire Matchmaker - j2
1. Chapter 1

**Part 1**

Jared dragged Jensen to Patti. He had known about her services ever since Chad had been kicked out of her office seven months ago. His friend had bitched and moaned about the woman for days afterward. Jared didn't give much stock to Chad's complaints. The man deserved everything he got. Besides, Jared had done some research, and Patti was known as the guru of matchmaking. He and Jensen needed matches. Badly.

It had been two long years since he and Sandy split. Jensen and Danneel were over thirteen months ago. Neither one has had a lasting relationship since. Getting dates wasn't the problem. Both men have had plenty of first dates, and even a few third and fourth dates. Sex wasn't a problem either. After all, both were handsome guys. No, the problem came with the long term connection. Neither of the boys had a lasting interest in any of the girls they had dated in the past year. Jensen was one year past thirty and Jared wasn't too far behind him. Jared couldn't help thinking that it was time to settle down. He brought the subject up to Jensen a few months back.

"Do you want to have a family?" he's asked.

Jensen scrunched up his nose and gave Jared a sideways look. "Of course. Why?"

Jared flopped down next to Jensen on the couch. "I was just thinking that I'm ready." He rubbed his hands on his pants. "You know? I want it- a wife, kids, the white picket fence."

Jensen sighed then paused his video game. He knew when Jared was serious. "What brought this on?"

"My date with Kate last night sucked," Jared said while running a hand through his hair.

"Dude, I know you got it on. Your headboard kept banging the wall."

"Sorry man." He flushed. "Yeah, we hooked up, but it wasn't enough. The sex was good, but not great." Jensen raised an eyebrow and pushed out his lips. Jared continued to explain, "It's not like it was with Sandy."

"Do you want to get back with Sandy?"

He shook his head. "No. Sandy and I are long over. She's not who I want, but I _do_ want what I had with her. I want that closeness, the connection, that a committed, loving relationship gives."

Jensen snorted then reached over gave Jared a quick punch to the shoulder. "You are such a sap."

A smile flashed across Jared's face and he retaliated by ruffling Jensen's hair. "Say's the man who calls his Mama every Tuesday and Saturday."

Jensen shoved him off. "Hey, my Mama is a fantastic woman."

"I know; she makes a mean pie," Jared said and settled back into the couch. Jensen's shoulder came to rest against his.

"It would be nice to be in love again." With that simple admission, Jared knew Jensen had been thinking about relationships as much as Jared.

"I think we should try a dating service." Jared was careful to keep his tone even.

He felt Jensen shift. "No way man."

"Jensen," Jared griped, "it's not like we've had any luck on our own."

"Dude," Jensen reached forward and picked up the game controller. "We were playing around before. Now that we've decided to commit, the perfect girls will be falling into our laps." He gave Jared a sideways smirk, pouty lips and all, and Jared knew the conversation was over.

"Alright. We'll give it a try." Jared scooted forward until he could reach the other controller. Jensen exited out of his game and rebooted the Xbox. Jared waited while he flipped through the game menu and chose their game. Jensen started the game and soon the two of them were busy blasting salt-filled shotguns at ghosts.

Jared had a feeling this conversation wasn't over.


	2. Chapter 2

**Part 2 **

Jared was right. Neither he nor Jensen had found the loves of their lives. Five weeks had passed since their conversation about commitment, and neither had been on one successful date. "I want to go to a matchmaker," Jared stated over dinner one night. Jensen was forking through his chicken tender salad searching for another piece of crispy meat. He stopped, took a long sip of his Diet Coke, and then placed both hands flat on the table.

"I don't know." His green eyes disappeared as he stared at his salad.

"Jensen," Jared stated. Jensen's eyes flew to Jared. "It's been five weeks, and the loves of our lives haven't fallen into our laps. You've been on six dates, and I've been on seven. We connected with none of the girls. Something is wrong. We're doing something wrong."

Jensen's pale skin flushed, highlighting the freckles that dusted his nose and cheeks. "I know. You're right."

Relief flooded Jared. He'd been so worried Jensen would fight him on this. "I've been looking onto different dating services."

Jensen nodded and twirled his fork.

"I think we should go see Patti Stanger." Jared took a gulp of his beer. The bitter taste exploded across his tongue; he wondered if he should order Jensen a Blue Moon. Some alcohol would do him good.

"Isn't she the woman Chad bitched about for weeks?" Jensen asked, worry lines creasing his brow. Jared motioned to their waiter and ordered two Blue Moons.

"Yeah, but you know better than to take Chad's word. Besides, like I said, I've done my homework and she's got raving reviews," Jared explained. "Supposedly, she's got a ninety-ninety percent rate of success." The waiter came and set down their drinks. Jared finished his current one, and watched as Jensen quickly took a mouthful of his. "From the people I've talked to, if you follow her rules, she'll find you your soul mate." Jared didn't mention the dozen of accounts from men who complained about her no-nonsense, bitchy attitude. That would completely turn Jensen off.

"I don't know Jay…" Jensen trailed off, taking a long pull on his glass.

"Jen," Jared clunked his glass down, half full. "We need to do this. We need an expert, and Patti is the expert of experts." Jensen's shoulders were tight and hunched forward, so Jared tried to lighten the conversation. "Anyways, think about how happy we'll be after we find the loves of our lives. Think, we can find women who _cook_."

A small smile graced Jensen's lips. It was well known by their friends and family that Jared and Jensen could burn eggs. They ate out almost every meal. Their momma's were ashamed. "Alright, I'll give it a chance."

Jared pumped a fist in the air. "Great! I'll call her tomorrow and set up an appointment." He picked up his beer and held his glass out to Jensen."To us and finding love." His friend lifted up his own beer and clinked his glass against Jared's.

Jensen's mouth turned upwards. His eyes met Jared's. "To love."


	3. Chapter 3

**Part 3**

Jared didn't tell Jensen about the cameras. He knew about them of course. He had called Patti the morning after their dinner. She had told him about her services and warned about the cameras recording her work. She was being filmed for a show on the network Bravo. It wasn't a station he was familiar with. He didn't watch much television. Shows like _Buffy_ and _X-Files_ were classics worth watching over and over, but other than those or the occasional _Battlestar Galactica_, the only thing he watched was sports. At first, he hadn't liked the idea of his search for the perfect girl being filmed. However, after some thought, and a conversation with Chad, he came to the conclusion it wouldn't be so bad. He and Jensen were great guys, and there was nothing for them to be ashamed about. Also, it was a secret dream of Jared's to be on TV. Only Jensen and his sister Megan knew that he'd tried out for Real World. Twice. So Jared knew about the cameras, but he didn't tell Jensen because Jensen would freak. Jensen could be too shy for his own good sometimes.

With Jared leading the way, they entered Patti's office at ten Monday morning. A cute girl named Chelsea greeted them at the door. She gave them both a once over, and Jared was glad Jensen had convinced him to wear something fancy. Jared had on his nicest pair of black dress pants and long sleeve button-up polo. Truthfully, black wasn't his favorite color, and if it was up to him he would be wearing a pair of faded jeans and a football jersey. However, Jensen had fussed for hours at him last night, asking, "What are you wearing?" like a mantra. Jensen had finally (_finally_) settled with a pair of dark corduroys, a long sleeved white polo under a soft green cashmere sweater. Jared thought he looked like a perfect college boy, glasses and all. Jensen had always been good at hiding the nerd within. At least until he spoke.

Patti's office was painted lipstick-red and had beautifully expensive wooden floors. Jared couldn't help but wonder the about the upkeep on the floors. He and Jensen had carpet and tile in their place; with the way they behaved wood floors would be damaged in weeks. Chelsea led them through the office. Jared could hear quiet little breaths coming from behind him. He slowed his walk until Jensen bumped into him, and then he flashed his friend an encouraging smile. Jensen adjusted his glasses, a familiar nervous habit, and then gave a tentative smile back. They followed Chelsea around a corner, and suddenly a camera was in view.

Jensen freaked. He became stiff and Jared swore he heard teeth grinding. The glasses came off and were cleaned, even though they were spotless, and then were harsh slammed back onto his face. Jared reached back and grasped Jensen's sleeve. He gave a sharp tug while mouthing 'relax.' Patti came into view.

"Hi! You must be Jared." She shoved a hand his way. Her grip was tight and strong, like a man. Patti wasn't quite what he expected. From Chad's description and his own image of a matchmaker, he expected an elderly woman with the devil in her eyes. He couldn't tell if the devil was there or not, but she definitely wasn't an old woman. Dressed in a skin tight blue suit, with long black hair and even longer tan legs, Patti was one hell of a woman. Her shirt was low enough to give a sneak peak at her ample cleavage and her lips were full enough to make Jared question Botox injections. "I'm Patti. And you must be Jensen." She reached past Jared to shake Jensen's hand. His friend seemed shell-shocked. His mouth was slightly open and red flushed across his face. Jared wanted to mess up his carefully gelled hair, but resisted. He didn't want to appear foolish in front of the matchmaker.

"Yeah, thanks for seeing us. As I said on the phone, we could use some relationship help." Patti's attention swung back to Jared. Jensen flashed him a look of gratitude.

"Not a problem! Matchmaking is what I do. Come," she motioned them into a nearby office. A modern glass desk was the main feature of the room along with several comfy looking lounge chairs. Jared and Jensen took the seats on the guest side of the desk and Patti walked around and sat on the other. "So tell me about yourself."

Jared began. " Jensen and I are looking for love. We've had problems maintaining, really finding, long-term relationships. We are both ready to settle down, start a family, but we must be doing something wrong because it's just not happening." He stared across the table watching for Patti's reaction. Her eyes narrowed and flicked between him and Jensen.

She tapped her long painted fingernails against her bare arm, and said, "Well you two are both gorgeous, so you won't have any problem in that department." The words took Jared aback. It wasn't often a complete stranger told him he was gorgeous. He knew that he was good looking, and Jensen was as pretty as a girl, but it was still nice to hear from the opposite sex. He couldn't help but sit up straighter and give Patti a pleased smile. "Here's what we're going to do. I'm going to separate you," Jared and Jensen shared a concerned look, "and find out what you are each looking for. Alright?"

Jared nodded; no other action seemed right.

"Okay. Jensen I'm going to talk with you first. Jared while I'm finding out about Jensen, I need you to fill out paperwork in the other room." Patti lifted a manila folder off her desk and handed it to Jared. He stood, patted Jensen on the shoulder and found a seat at a table in a small neighboring conference room. The paperwork was mostly about fees and terms of services, along with a short personality questionnaire, but there were also a few pages about the camera crews milling around.

Speaking of, one of the cameramen had followed him into the room. The guy waved to get his attention and said, "I'm going to ask you a few questions. When you answer them, please look directly at the camera." The balding man pointed to the camera lens. So Jared ran a hand through his hair, hoped he looked decent, and waited.

The first question was easy enough. "_Tell us about yourself and how you made your money."_

"My name is Jared Padalecki. I'm the cofounder of J-Squared, the multi-million dollar video game company. Jensen and I created the company six years ago. Jen and I are the designers of the internationally best-selling, award winning video game series _Supernatural_. Together, we've created the four _Supernatural_ games and the racing game _Impala." _Jared couldn't help the pride that snuck into his voice. Five best-selling video games were an accomplishment, and _Supernatural: The Hunt For John Winchester _was the first thing he'd every created with Jensen. It held a special place in his heart. 

"_Tell us about how you and Jensen met." _

Jared couldn't hold back a smile as he remembered his first days with Jensen. "We met my freshman year of college. Jen was a first year graduate student working on a Master's in graphic design. I was a theater major. About four weeks into school, when the stress of everything was coming to a boiling point, I decided to go to a meeting of Gamerz, a campus gaming club. Jensen was President of the club. We met and instantly hit it off. We came up for the idea of _Supernatural_ together and two years later we putting the whole thing into production." The whole thing had been a whirlwind from start to finish. Jen was so easy to bounce ideas off of, and their personalities and habits fit together like puzzle pieces. Jensen was the best friend Jared ever had.

A knock startled Jared from his remembrance. Patti stood at the door with Jensen a foot behind her clutching his own manila folder. "Alright, your turn big boy." She motioned for Jared to follow and turned around to walk back to her office. Jensen stepped in and Jared silently asked him "_how was it?" _Jensen shrugged, as if to say _"not horrible."_ Jared held out his fist to Jensen's and exchanged bumps on the way out.

He left his friend to the cameraman and paperwork and settled himself across from Patti desk. She had out a notepad and an expensive decorative pen. She focused on him and said, "Okay Jared, I want you to tell me what your perfect girl is."

He chewed on the inside of his cheek. That was a difficult question. "The perfect girl is….. is funny. She has to have a good sense of humor and an easy smile. She's open minded. I don't like bigots or racists. Someone smart of course. I want someone who can hold a conversation and cares about the world."

"I'm going to stop you for second," Patti cut in. "This," she waved her pen in a circle, "is all important, but I want to know what attracts you. That first initial attraction, to appearance, is imperative. You don't want to spend the rest of your life with someone you're not attracted too. So what do you like? Big boobs? Blondes? What?"

Jared fumbled. His hands were suddenly sweaty; he wiped them down his pants. He'd never discussed what made him hot with a girl before. At least not a girl he wasn't in a relationship with. He looked at Patti; she didn't budge. He had to answer the question. "Well," he began. "I like green eyes." Like the color of the greenest grass. "Big or small, I don't really care about breast size. Umm, I like dark blondes, or light haired brunettes. I don't want someone too short, since I'm so tall. Oh, and smiles. I love a great smile." He shook his head and let his hair brush over his eyes. Then he turned on the puppy dog eyes. _That's good, right?_ He tried to say. Jensen always understood his puppy eyes.

She nodded and wrote something down on her paper. "Okay, dark blondes with great smiles. Now, what do you want out of a relationship? A family? Someone to travel with?"

"Oh, I definitely want family. I love kids. I want someone sweet who I can take home to my parents. I want someone who will be a lifelong friend and lover." Jared had always imagined himself living the so-called American dream. A suburban house with a white picket fence and two point five kids. "Oh, and they have to like dogs. I have two big dogs. Harley and Sadie."

"Must love dogs. That's an important one," she said while writing on her paper. "Okay, here's what's going to happen. I'm going to take the information you've provided me and I going to search for your perfect girl. I'm going to hand select a handful of girls for you to have a mixer with. Then you will choose two to go on mini dates with. Sound good?"

"Sounds good." There was a knock on the door and Jared swiveled around to look. Chelsea had retrieved Jensen and was waiting for permission to enter. Patti waved them in then stood. Jared quickly got to his feet.

"Alight gentlemen. I've got what I need from you for the moment. Before you go I'm going to give each of you some advice." Jared and Jensen share a glance; they both nodded. "You are both handsome men, but there are some things you both can do to spark up your appearance. Jared long hair suits you, but it wouldn't hurt to get your hair cut by a professional. It could use some body. Jensen, lose the glasses. Get some contacts, if you don't already have them. You have a gorgeous face and beautiful eyes, don't hide them." Jared felt his stomach drop. Cut his hair? Jensen without his glasses? Yikes.

"Also," she continued, "don't spend the whole time talking about video games. A little bit is okay, since it is your profession, but most girls aren't into that. Talk about other things. Sports, movies, pop culture." Jared nodded, that made sense. Sandy hated when he spent a whole evening chatting about his and Jensen's latest gaming spree. "And last but not least, plan to spend some time apart. No double dating. You guys are best friends. I get it, but if you want serious relationships the most important people in your lives should be the girls you are dating. Got it?" Feeling like she had told him he couldn't play with his dogs or eat gummy worms anymore, Jared gave a hesitant nod. A lump settled into his throat as he stared at Patti. Her suggestions were harsh, but he knew coming in that he would have to change to get what he wanted. It was necessary sacrifice.

He felt a hip bump against his and knew Jensen wanted him to turn around. He wanted reassurance everything was going to be fine. Guilt flooded him. He didn't turn. He needed to be tough. Yet, he couldn't push away the thought that he was betraying the most important person in his life.


End file.
